Federal Aviation Regulations based upon the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 generally require passengers and crew to be restrained in their seats by seat belts for all takeoffs and landings. However, this regulation further allows infants and small children under the age of two years to be held by an adult during takeoffs and landings, or at other times when passengers might be required to use their seat belts.
Experience has shown by means of several air carrier accidents that the deceleration forces imposed are frequently sufficient to cause such children being held by adults to be thrown from the grasp of the adult, no matter how securely that adult may believe himself or herself to be holding the child. It will be appreciated that a child two years of age may weigh on the order of twenty five pounds or more, and the otherwise survivable deceleration forces may reach twenty times the force of gravity (20 G's) or more. The resulting force imposed by a 25 pound child at 20 G's will be seen to be the equivalent of 500 pounds, which force very few adults would be able to restrain when such force is suddenly imposed, as in the case of an aircraft accident.
Child restraint seats for automobiles have been known for many years, and in fact are required by law in many areas for small children riding in passenger cars. However, as noted above such restraint seats are not required in aircraft, even though the typical speeds and potential forces involved in aircraft accidents are much higher than in automobiles. One reason for the lack of a requirement for such child or infant safety seats in air carrier aircraft is that such seats require the use of a standard passenger seat, which precludes the use of that seat for a full fare adult passenger. Many families would use alternate means of transportation rather than paying full fare for a small child which may be easily held in the arms of a parent. Thus, there has been little economic incentive to provide such safety seats for small children and infants traveling by air. An argument has also been raised that in the case of families using other means of transportation, the chances of injury or death for such family members (including infants and small children) are statistically greater than if those families traveled by air. Thus, the effective act of discouraging a family from traveling by air due to the cost of an extra full seat for an infant, might be seen as endangering that family and infant further as they take an alternative and more hazardous form of transportation.
While the restraint requirement is answered for persons of sufficient age and size to be restrained by the standard aircraft seat belt, the need arises for a restraint system for infants and other small children which is specifically adapted for use in aircraft, particularly air carrier aircraft. The restraint seat or system should be capable of being secured to the existing seat or cargo restraint tracks which are found in nearly all such aircraft in order to preclude the requirement for a passenger seat, or alternatively should be capable of being installed in a conventional aircraft seat and restrained by the standard seat belt arrangement should such an alternative be preferable. Further, the seat should be capable of being installed in a rearward facing direction When secured to the seat or cargo tiedown tracks of the aircraft, thus offering the additional protection Well known in such rearward facing seats.